Student Library Assistant
Applications for 2025 - 2026 academic year are now open!
Student Library Assistants (SLA) play a pivotal role in ensuring that the library achieves its vision to “support scholarship, intellectual growth and critical inquiry, and to promote a continuing love of learning in a welcoming space where people choose to gather.”
Our SLAs are ambassadors of our library values who help create a welcoming environment, provide consistent and quality day-to-day services, and support student success through access to resources and research help.
Cardinal Carter Library SLAs provide value to our community by ensuring our library’s hours of opening are some of the best on the broader Western campus and that our library continues to be the research and collaborative study destination of choice for learners across our community.
The Cardinal Carter Library strives to create an accessible, safe and inclusive environment for all. We seek to create a supportive and learner centered work environment to allow our student staff to engage in meaningful employment that supports lifelong learning and future career success.
Duties include:
- Checks-in, checks-out and renews all circulating library material.
- Provides Tier 2 research assistance to library users; refers complex queries as appropriate.
- Shelves circulating material and shelf-reads sections of the circulating collection, as assigned.
- Retrieves requested material and prepares it for transfer to other libraries; prepares returned material for transfer to its home library.
- Accepts payments, fees, and fines; operates cash register and point-of-sale machine.
- Provides troubleshooting assistance to patrons using library equipment, printer/copiers, wireless access.
- Refills printer/copier paper, staples and other supplies, as necessary.
- Records relevant statistics for the library.
- Reports problems with library equipment or the facility, as appropriate.
- Performs other duties, as assigned.
Learning Skills Outcomes:
Students in this role can expect to gain experience and build skills in the following areas:
- Customer service – by assisting patrons at the Service Desk, and learning how to stay calm, friendly, and professional when answering questions or handling conflict.
- Communication – by improving both verbal and written communication when helping library patrons, learning to listen actively and clearly explain library services/policies.
- Problem-solving – by learning to respond to unexpected issues and work through problems in a logical, step-by-step manner. Students will gain confidence handling challenges calmly and independently, while also learning when to ask for help or use available resources.
- Technical skills – by using a variety of library equipment, tools, and systems such as copiers/printers, LibCal, PaperCut, Omni, Alma, and Book Pavilion.
- Organization and time management – by balancing multiple responsibilities such as collection maintenance, shelving, digitization requests, and Service Desk duties. Students will practice attention to detail, accuracy, and learn to manage their time effectively alongside academic commitments.
- Teamwork – by collaborating with other student employees and full-time library staff to support daily library operations. Students will build teamwork skills both in person and through digital platforms (Microsoft Teams and email).
- Research skills – by assisting users in navigating Omni (the library catalogue) to find books, journal articles, and other electronic resources. Students will also learn how to teach effective search strategies, such as using filters and Boolean operators.
- Professionalism – by developing strong work habits such as punctuality, focus, and responsibility. Students will also learn to accept and apply constructive feedback to improve their job performance.
Applicants must be King's undergraduate students who possess excellent customer service skills. Promptness, punctuality, dependability and good organizational skills are important. Cash register and point-of-sale experience are preferred but not essential. Shifts occur during all hours of opening (weekdays and weekends) and are usually 3 to 4 hours in length. The current rate of pay is $17.60 per hour.
We thank all those who apply, but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.